WASHINGTON — Monday’s wild weather is slowly melting leaving behind potholes and the chance of flooding.
Heavy rain and rising temperatures quickly melted any ice that coated roads and sidewalks Tuesday morning and also helped to improve road conditions throughout the region.
But the mix of rain and the melting snow could overwhelm small streams. A flood watch remains in effect for the entire region through Tuesday evening. A flood warning was allowed to expire at 2 p.m. for D.C., Anne Arundel, Prince George’s, Howard, Montgomery and Baltimore — areas that were expected to see as much as 1 inch of rain, according to the National Weather Service.
Reagan National Airport reported just more than a half inch of rain. Rain amounts elsewhere varied between a half inch and 1 inch of rain, said Storm Team 4 meteorologist Lauryn Ricketts.
By noon, the rain had begun to taper and was moving out of the D.C. metro area. Sunshine is in the forecast for the afternoon, which could help to dry up any remaining puddles and ponding water, Ricketts said.
But refreezing tonight is possible as some areas will dip into the mid 20s for overnight lows. DC. and areas inside the Capital Beltway however will likely hover above the freezing mark, she said.
Presidents Day provided a smorgasbord of weather. The heavy rain followed a freezing rainstorm Monday night that dropped as much as a quarter inch of ice in some spots, coating sidewalks and creating dicey driving conditions on area roadways, which were still slushy or snowy from the snowfall earlier Monday.
Three people were killed in crashes across Virginia including two in Northern Virginia – among the hundreds of crashes state police responded to during the storm.
In Maryland, a single driver was killed in Harford County after he lost control of his car on a snow-covered road Monday afternoon, according to Maryland State Police. The agency responded to more than 100 crashes from Monday through midday Tuesday.
The rapid freeze and thaw cycles that have hit the region since a late January storm dumped almost 3 feet of snow have wrecked havoc on road surfaces. A small pothole on the Capital Beltway bloomed into a vehicle-damaging road hazard that hit 8 to 10 vehicles Tuesday morning and required emergency pothole repair work during the heart of the rush hour.
Others potholes were reported on the Kutz Bridge and on M Street.
AAA says drivers can expect plenty more potholes to emerge in the coming days and weeks.
